US Army to spread FARA-CP funding reduction among programme's government furnished equipment

The US Army will reduce spending on a variety of government furnished equipment (GFE) on its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft-Competitive Prototype (FARA-CP) programme to accommodate a USD34 million fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020) funding reduction for the effort, according to a key officer.

Brigadier General Walter Rugen, US Army Future Vertical Lift (FVL) cross-functional team director, told reporters on 8 January that the programme’s GFE is the propulsion system from the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the 20 mm cannon, the integrated munitions launcher, and the modular open systems architecture. Brig Gen Rugen did not say when or how the service would implement the GFE spending cut. The US Army did not return a request for comment prior to publication.

Bell will offer its 360 Invictus for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft-Competitive Prototype effort. (Bell)

“We will get the government furnished equipment, it is just [a question of] how extensive can the government furnished equipment be,” Brig Gen Rugen said. “We want the government furnished equipment to be as robust as it can possibly be, [but] we are going to have to pull back a bit on that.”

Brig Gen Rugen emphasised that the FARA-CP funding reduction would not affect the programme’s schedule. The US Army will downselect to two contractor teams in March, and companies selected must have aircraft ready to fly by November 2022. Both prototypes that are downselected will conduct flight testing at the same time in 2023.

Brig Gen Rugen said he could have more information in April on how the reduction in FARA-CP spending could affect the programme’s GFE. He said how the equipment, and which equipment, would be affected will depend on the competitors downselected in March as each offer will have a different level of funding.